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Bounty Hunting is an activity featured in all three installments of the Red Dead series.

In Revolver, it is the profession of choice of protagonist Red Harlow, while in the latter titles, it is a series of side-missions the protagonists can take part in.

In Redemption, it is unlocked after completing the mission "Political Realities in Armadillo", while in Redemption 2 it is unlocked after the mission "Polite Society, Valentine Style". In Online, bounty hunting is one of the main activities the player can do, and becomes available after buying a bounty hunter license, which unlocks the Bounty Hunter Role.

Description[]

Rdr bounty pay

Outlaws with bounties on their head can be found throughout the land in various locations. These bounty hunting opportunities can be accepted from posters that are usually found in towns near a local Telegraph Office or train station. Available wanted posters will appear as a white skull on the player's map. If the player accepts the bounty from the poster, the location of the target will appear as a red skull on the map.

An active bounty does not have to be completed within any sort of time period; players can continue free roaming until they decide to go after the criminal. However, if another mission is started while an accepted bounty is outstanding, the bounty will no longer be available when completing the mission. Additionally, if Marston assaults or kills a lawman, the bounty will no longer be available. If a crime is committed while returning the bounty, the player will be unable to obtain the reward until the wanted level disappears.

Players may find taking up bounty hunting a highly profitable activity. The bounty reward varies, depending on whether the player has chosen to capture or kill the outlaw. Capturing the bounty alive awards the player twice the amount of money compared to killing the bounty.

Marston can also have a bounty placed on him if he is observed committing crimes. The bounty for Marston depends on his actions. If he has a bounty himself when turning in a bounty target, his own bounty will be deducted from the reward. Along with the law, bounty hunter posses will also go after Marston to collect on his bounty.

If Marston is arrested, he can do bounty hunting to reduce his own bounty. If he does not have enough money to pay off his own bounty, then he is required to do a bounty hunting mission.

Red Dead Redemption[]

List of Bounty Targets[]

Rdr bounty targets

Below is a list of all Bounty Targets and Wanted Poster locations in the game. Wanted Posters with a question mark are of targets already completed. However, the Bounty location may be different (which is what the game counts for completion). There are 8 Nuevo Paraiso locations, 8 New Austin locations and 4 West Elizabeth locations. Game completion progress is determined by the location of the Bounty, not the bounties themselves, hence you do not need to kill all of the bounties in the game to achieve 100% Completion.

New Austin - MacFarlane's Ranch[]

Name

Gang

Dead Reward

Alive Reward

Rdr charlie mash square
Charlie Mash

Bollard Twins

20

40

Rdr julius grimes2
Julius Grimes

Bollard Twins

120

240

Rdr slink bradshaw2
Slink Bradshaw

Bollard Twins

120

240

Rdr harry dobbing
Harry Dobbing

Bollard Twins

80

160

Rdr irvin pennick square
Irvin Pennick

Bollard Twins

80

160

Rdr maurice sweet2
Maurice Sweet

Bollard Twins

20

40

Rdr sid winkler2
Sid Winkler

Criminals

200

400

New Austin - Armadillo[]

Name

Gang

Dead Reward

Alive Reward

Rdr mo van barr
Mo van Barr
Waltons 80 160
Rdr perry rose square
Perry Rose
Waltons 80 160
Rdr cooper reed square
Cooper Reed
Waltons 80 160
PICT0005
Rufus Higbee

Waltons

120

240

Rdr cody witlow01
Cody Witlow
Waltons 20 40
Dale-Chesson-head
Dale Chesson
Waltons 20 40
Rdr tmfb link huston
Link Huston
Waltons

120

240

Rdr quinn malloy square
Quinn Malloy
Criminals 40

80

New Austin - Rathskeller Fork[]

Name Gang Dead Reward Alive Reward
Rdr roscoe duffy square
Roscoe Duffy
Treasure Hunter 20 40
Rdr harlan forbes01
Harlan Forbes
Treasure Hunter 20 40
Wade-Bassett-01
Wade Bassett
Treasure Hunter 120 240
Rdr lester dugan square
Lester Dugan
Treasure Hunter 80 160
Kuva 101
Stanley Mund
Treasure Hunter 120 240
Rdr clark hatfield square
Clark Hatfield
Treasure Hunter 80 160

Nuevo Paraiso - Escalera, Chuparosa, El Presidio[]

Name Gang Dead Reward Alive Reward
Rdr sergio abelda02
Sergio Abelda
Banditos 80 160
Rdr mateo clisante square
Mateo Clisante
Banditos 80 160
Cristo Bustamante Banditos 200 400
Ramiro de la Torre Banditos 200 400
Cesar Higueras Banditos 120 240
Benito Penagarza Banditos 120 240
Geraldo Elisaldez Criminals 80 160
Jorge Reynoso Criminals 120 240
Rigoberto Artiz Criminals 200 400
Raul Ontiveros Criminals 200 400
Selestino Herrada Criminals 120 240
Julian Coronado Criminals 120 240

West Elizabeth - Blackwater, Manzanita Post[]

Name Gang Dead Reward Alive Reward
Moses Lowson Criminals 120 240
Americus Roe Criminals 300 600
Hestor Frith Criminals 300 600
Grant Avery Criminals 200 400
Charlie Hinkle Criminals 200 400
Zebedee Nash Criminals

300

600
Melvin Spinney Criminals 300 600
Ralph Stricker Criminals 200 400
Kent Gallaway Criminals 300 600
Isaiah Greeley Criminals 120 240
Honovi Dutch's Gang 120 240
Dakota Dutch's Gang 120 240

List of Bounty Locations[]

This is a list of all locations in which the player must kill or capture a bounty in order to achieve 100% game completion.

New Austin[]

Pick up the bounty at Armadillo, Rathskeller Fork, or MacFarlane's Ranch, and deliver them at the Armadillo Jail or MacFarlane's Ranch Foreman's Office.

Nuevo Paraiso[]

Pick up the bounty at El Presidio, Escalera, or Chuparosa, and deliver them to Chuparosa.

West Elizabeth[]

Pick up the bounty at Blackwater or Manzanita Post, and deliver them to the Blackwater Jail.

Multiplayer[]

In Red Dead Redemption multiplayer, bounty hunting is a challenge system that earns players experience. A player who decides to fight the NPC lawmen in Free Roam mode, or break the laws, will have a bounty posted on their head, similar to single player mode. Any player who amasses a bounty of $1000 will be shown on the minimap as a public enemy and an experience bonus will be awarded to any player who kills him. Players who gain bounties and survive bounty hunter attacks will complete Outlaw Challenges. A player that reaches Public Enemy status in a multiplayer won't be able to use Transport spots for fast travel, so bounty hunters have some advantage in order to track and take him down.

Members of another posse can locate these players and kill them to collect on the bounty, as well as earn themselves experience.

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

The player can accept bounty hunting missions from sheriff's offices in several different settlements by taking wanted posters. The local sheriff will comment on the bounty, and provide additional details when questioned.

Unlike Redemption, there is a set number of bounties, not an infinite amount of randomly generated bounties, and some must be brought in alive if required, or the mission is failed. In the event that a bounty can be brought in either alive or dead, there is also no reduction in reward for killing them. Once all of the bounties available at a sheriff's office are completed, the local sheriff will inform the player that they’ll refrain from posting any more, for reasons which vary depending on the settlement.

There are an additional seven bounties which can only be captured during the course of certain missions, and bounties posted in Blackwater and Tumbleweed can only be completed as John Marston.

Valentine[]

Name Gang Condition Reward
Benedict Allbright None Alive $50
Ellie Anne Swan None Alive $25

Strawberry[]

Name Gang Condition Reward
Joshua Brown None Alive $40
Bart Cavanaugh Laramie Dead or Alive $60

Locked until Gainful Employment is completed.

Rhodes[]

Name Gang Condition Reward
Mark Johnson None Alive $25
Robbie LaidLaw None Alive $35
Camille de Millemont Lemoyne Raiders Dead or Alive $55

Saint Denis[]

Name Gang Condition Reward
Anthony Foreman †† Foreman Brothers Alive $85
Lindsey Wofford Lemoyne Raiders Dead or Alive $100

†† Only posted in 1907 if Arthur spared him during "No, No and Thrice, No". Locked until Gainful Employment is completed.

Blackwater[]

Name Gang Condition Reward
Elias Green Skinner Brothers Dead or Alive $90
Otis Skinner Skinner Brothers Dead or Alive $75
Herman Zizendorf None Alive $30

All Blackwater bounties are locked until Gainful Employment is completed.

Tumbleweed[]

Name Gang Condition Reward
Esteban Cortez Del Lobo Dead or Alive $65
Joaquín Arroyo Del Lobo Alive $60

All Tumbleweed bounties are locked until "Gainful Employment" is completed.

Mission-Specific[]

Red Dead Online[]

The player can obtain a maximum price of $100 on their heads, that extends to all territories, through continually committing crimes as well as murdering other players. At any point, the player can pay a fee amounting to half the bounty at a post office or their camp to have it removed.

If their bounty reaches $10, they will be unable to start stranger missions and bounty hunters will begin tracking them down. At $20, bounty hunters will track down the player more often. At $30, bounty hunters will appear in higher numbers and track the player much more frequently.

Main article: Bounty Hunter (Red Dead Online)

With the addition of the Frontier Pursuits update, players have the option to become a bounty hunter and can even be turned in themselves.

Tips[]

  • In order for a bounty to become available in a town, one must be there long enough for the sheriff to come out of his office and post it. Bounties are usually posted between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm daily. If you hitch your horse around the sheriff's office, he has a tendency to post the bounty much quicker for some reason. Also, starting a boxing match in town or pushing a man will bring the sheriff out of his office, and the bounty poster will be posted. Just be careful that one doesn't hit the wrong person or draw a weapon, as people will likely become hostile.
  • If autosave is turned off, be sure to save after the bounty is accepted.
  • There is a very safe yet time-consuming method to capture a bounty alive. When the player reaches the bounty target's location, kill all of his gang members but leave him alive. Once he's alone, he will try to run away. Sometimes he gets a horse, sometimes he doesn't. Now the trick here is that he will never try to shoot the player while he's running away. Just like cattle herding, the player can "herd" the bounty target towards the town where he's supposed to take him. All the player has to do is tail him, tail him from the right, he heads left, that's because he's trying to get away from the player. While he's running away, no reinforcements will appear. This makes the trip back to the police/sheriff station easier. When the player finally "herd" him inside a town, lasso him. Because it's already a town, other criminals would not dare appear. Players would be in bad luck if the target doesn't mount a horse, because the "herding" would take a lot longer since he will be traveling on foot.
  • To capture a fugitive alive, it's a good idea to disarm him first, using Dead-Eye, while shooting the target in the leg can make him easier to lasso. Before hogtying the bounty, call a horse so that it's at hand, since criminal reinforcements might show up as soon as the bounty is captured. This happens quicker with high bounty outlaws. It is strongly recommended that in those circumstances, hogtie the criminal and then wait for the first wave of rivals to get within range and finish them off. This gives you more time to load the outlaw onto your horse without the risk of getting shot to bits while doing so.
  • Outlaws with low bounties are generally protected by fewer gang members, and tend to attack the player which makes capturing or killing them easier; higher-bounty outlaws tend to flee once all their allies are dead, sometimes requiring a long chase.
  • If the fugitive is on horseback, one can either shoot the horse out from under him, or shoot the target in the foot or leg, which will cause him to fall off. A fugitive on horseback has a greater chance of escape and they will attempt to steal any horses in the area. If a bounty does manage to steal a horse, use caution. Killing a stolen horse will cause one to lose honor, so attempt to lasso him before he rides off, or take a non-lethal shot with Dead-Eye. As for one's horse, simply whistling for it will cause it to buck off anyone trying to steal it.
  • If the fugitive mounts a horse and rides away to another area, it sometimes will not count it for your 100%. A good idea is to snipe the horses before your attack on the gang; killing gang horses does not affect Honor.
  • Once a bounty is dead or captured, his accomplices will seek revenge or try to free him along the way. It is possible to outrun and evade them without having to fight, since the accomplices will turn back once they near a town. If one decides to fight the gang, try to keep at least one of them alive and let him give chase. If he falls too far behind, wait for him to catch up. Since only one gang will engage at a time, this will avoid a second gang and make the journey back much easier.
  • Always have medicine available. Most bounties will attempt to escape after being shot, however some may try to harm the player, so be prepared, just in case.
  • It is fairly easy to sneak up on a bounty's last known location by crouching, which will not attract attention unless one is very close or begins shooting. This allows one brief moment to pick off a target or multiple targets, using Dead eye.
  • When out in the wilderness anything can and will happen. It's best to survey the area around the targets' hideout, staying on guard for animal attacks.
  • Once a fugitive is killed or captured, pursuing enemies will remain on horseback unless they're shot off or their horse dies.
  • When going after fugitives affiliated with a certain gang (which can be found by looking at the wanted poster), dress in their gang attire,e.g., the "Bandito" outfit or the "Bollard Twins" outfit. This allows one to blend in, avoid suspicion, and get close enough for the kill/capture. However, any hostile action towards a gang member will give one away. Arriving reinforcements will still try and stop one on the way back to the jail, regardless of outfit worn.
  • Many bounty locations can be easily dealt with using a sniper rifle. Simply find a location that's far enough so the player doesn't get shot, with a good vantage point and pick off targets one by one. The rest will start charging the player, running directly into the line of fire. With a little bit of dead-eye, one can easily take out the whole gang. Keep track of one's quarry, he might make a run for it in the opposite direction. Also, if intending to turn the bounty in alive, be careful one doesn't accidentally kill the bounty while taking out his men. However, attempting this from outside the radius which triggers the "You may choose to kill or capture" message may prevent the bounty mission from registering.
  • Loading the bounty onto a horse can leave one vulnerable to attack, however, it is possible to lasso the bounty alive and drag him to a nearby settlement or city where one can proceed to safely bind and load him onto a horse.
  • The fugitive and his gang are only roused once the first gang member is attacked. Therefore it is possible to shoot all the horses nearby, before beginning the assault, greatly reducing the chance to escape.
  • While attempting to flee on horseback, the fugitive may accidentally commit suicide by riding into deep water or jumping off a cliff.
  • If in rough country, it's a good idea as soon as the target is captured or his body searched to bring up the Map and set a waypoint at the destination (gold circle). The red route line is usually the fastest way through mountainous terrain, and avoids the risk of getting trapped. Alternatively, set a waypoint at the nearest settlement, since pursuers won't enter them.
  • Another way to capture the target alive is to use dead-eye and shoot the weapon out of the target's hands. If one is quick enough to pick up the weapon, the bounty target wont run and will surrender with his hands in the air. He does not count as captured at this point and no reinforcements will come yet. Whilst the player is aiming at him (if the players lowers his gun, he may run), call for a horse so that it is near you, hogtie him (switching to the lasso will spark an escape attempt) place him on the horse and leave the area.
  • If the target is killed, the player can capture one of the pursuing gang members on the way back and take him on the back of the horse. No other members will appear during the trip.
  • Do not shoot the bounty when he is standing next to a building, otherwise he will fall into the wall and you will be unable to collect the bounty. This is an apparent glitch that has been confirmed on the Xbox version.
    • Also use caution if a train is nearby. If the bounty is hit by a train or the corpse is on the tracks by the time the train comes, the body will be completely wiped out, making the player unable to collect the bounty. This is either a confirmed glitch for the Xbox version, or if designers missed the train as a death to bounties in the flowcharting during production.
  • When collecting bounties, limit the use of DLC outfits. For example, while bounty hunting in the Expert Hunter Outfit in Blackwater; it sometimes becomes possible for Marston not to receive the bounty money at all, even though the bounty was brought in. When this issue appears, try switching to Marston's normal outfit or any non-DLC outfit before engaging a bounty and in order to receive the bounty money.

Bugs/Glitches[]

Red Dead Redemption[]

  • If the player is attacked (punched or shot) while grabbing a Wanted Poster the player will automatically pull out their equipped weapon and kill the attacker however they will not incur a bounty for this.
  • The Wanted Poster in Chuparosa can sometimes be glitched when officers nail up multiple posters over one another. When John attempts to claim the bounty, he rips the top most poster from the wall revealing more behind it. The poster doesn't fit into his vest/jacket pocket and remains unfolded, stuck to the front of chest. The player's feet are stuck to the ground and the player can only spin around and draw a weapon. One way to get passed this glitch is to load a previous 'clean' save and walk inside the El Alcalde de Chuparosa building, immediately turn left and face the bench next to the front entrance. A prompt will appear to view/accept bounty, but then quickly disappears. When John returns outside to accept the bounty, the glitch is gone and interaction with the poster works correctly.
  • Sometimes a lawman will put up a poster, but the skull will not appear, and the player will not be able to accept the bounty.
  • XboxLogo When placing a bounty target on a horse, it may sometimes kill the horse and cause you to lose a great amount of honor.
  • After the player has beat 20 bounty targets (except Sid Winkler) in New Austin, Dale Chesson will always shows up as a bounty target in New Austin (confirmed on regular and GOTY Editions).
  • Sometimes after the player has met a Dale Chesson glitch, then saves a game, exits and comes back to a game, Sid Winkler will shows up as a bounty target instead of Dale Chesson and backs to Dale Chesson again after loading a game. It is a temporarily fixing[1] (does not work on current PS3 version).

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

  • When a prisoner is carried on the horse's back, hostile animals and the wanted level are disabled. Arthur can explore the Great Plains and Tall Trees without the Pinkertons or lawmen attacking him (though New Austin is still under unseen sniper guard).

Trivia[]

  • In Redemption, most bounty targets are affiliated with a major gang in the area:
  • In Redemption 2 most bounty targets are more frequently unaffiliated criminals, with the exception of the Blackwater, Tumbleweed, and Saint Denis bounties, which are mostly Skinner Brothers, Del Lobos and Lemoyne Raiders respectively.
  • In Redemption 2, Joshua Brown's poster in Strawberry only becomes available after completing "Blessed Are the Meek?" in Chapter 2.
  • In Redemption 2, all bounty posters in Rhodes will be unavailable until the completion of the Chapter 4 mission, "The Joys of Civilization".
  • There will be more police officers waiting when the bounty is brought in alive rather than dead.
  • The bounty proof for killing bounty targets appears to be a severed hand.
  • The Explosive Rifle will not destroy bounty targets if they are shot with it directly, presumably so the player can still gather evidence from their target's corpse.
  • Most bounty targets can be seen protecting towns in Undead Nightmare.
  • Bounty targets taken alive will be seen riding away from the town where Marston took them, most likely escaping.
  • Even if the bounty dies (Presumably by bleeding out and not a gunshot) while hogtied on the player's horse, the alive reward will still be granted instead of the dead reward. It also may prevent gang members from chasing you.
  • Even if a target is killed, they can be hunted again later.
  • There is a wallpaper available on the Rockstar website showing John Marston holding his own wanted poster. It shows a reward of $200 for alive and $400 for dead, the reverse of the usual case where targets are worth more alive than dead.
    • Alternatively, the poster could be offering a reward of $1200 for Marston alive, and $400 dead. This would also eschew convention somewhat as John's bounty alive would be 3x the amount rewarded if brought in dead, as opposed to the typical bonus of live bounties being worth 2x the "dead" reward. This could make some sense, however, as in the events of Red Dead Redemption 2, multiple members of the Van Der Linde gang have bounties worth several thousand dollars on them.

Gallery[]

Video Walkthroughs[]

Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption 2

Trophies/Achievements[]

Red Dead Redemption[]

Two trophies/achievements are associated with completing bounty hunting missions:

Clemencypays0
10 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Capture a bounty alive.

Redeemed
100 gamerscoregamerscore
Gold goldgold
Attain 100% List in the singleplayer game completion list.

This can also help to obtain:

Morethanafistful2
10 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Earn $10,000 in singleplayer.


Red Dead Redemption 2[]

Finding and taking down these bounties can net you these trophies/achievements:

ExtremePersonality
EXTREME PERSONALITY
10 gamerscoregamerscore
Bronze bronzebronze
Reach maximum or minimum Honor level.

CollectorsItem
COLLECTOR'S ITEM
20 gamerscoregamerscore
Silver silversilver
Complete one of the Collectible strands

BestintheWest
100 gamerscoregamerscore
Gold goldgold
Attain 100% Completion.


References[]

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